Gregg Wallace has been warned by one of the country’s most senior barristers not to say the women coming forward with claims against him are making things up. The comments from Baroness Helena Kennedy come after 50 more people contacted BBC News with claims about the TV presenter, which he denies. An inquiry into allegations of misconduct against him is expected to report back imminently. Wallace has been sacked as MasterChef presenter as a result of the inquiry.
Baroness Kennedy said the public might have enjoyed watching Wallace’s “cheeky chappy” persona but they had not seen his “uglier side”. She said if she had one bit of advice for the presenter, it would be not to dismiss the women’s claims. Baroness Kennedy also criticised managers across the TV industry for not dealing early on with concerns relating to Wallace.
She said that if managers employed people who did not know how to behave, they had a responsibility to take them to one side and nip issues in the bud as soon as possible. “That was not done,” she added. Baroness Kennedy’s comments come as Wallace faced a separate warning from the head of broadcast union Bectu not to “gaslight” women who have come forward with claims against him.
Philippa Childs said that more people have come forward to her organisation with “further revelations” about the TV presenter. Wallace stepped aside from MasterChef in November after an initial investigation, when 13 people accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments. The new claims come from people who say they encountered him across a range of shows and settings.
The majority say he made inappropriate sexual comments, while 11 women accuse him of inappropriate sexual behaviour, such as groping and touching. One woman says Wallace took his trousers down in front of her in a dressing room, in what she described as “disgusting and predatory” behaviour. Another says she was left feeling “absolutely horrified” and “quite sick” when he groped her.
Other people who contacted the BBC with new claims about Wallace include a participant on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, a university student, a woman who says he groped her at an industry ball, and a junior worker who says he dropped his trousers in front of her. The allegations raise fresh questions for the BBC and the other companies he worked for about their safeguarding practices and duty of care.
On Tuesday, Wallace wrote a lengthy Instagram post in which he said the “most damaging claims” against him “were found to be baseless after a full and forensic six-month investigation”. He accused the BBC of “peddling baseless and sensationalised gossip masquerading as properly corroborated stories”. Banijay UK said they won’t be commenting on individual allegations until the investigation is complete. A BBC spokesperson said they are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published.
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